Guess what. Another media bigshot is skeptical about blogs. According to Thomas Leif, the chief television reporter at the SWR (Southwest German Broadcasting) in Mainz, bloggers are a danger to professional journalists everywhere. The following is a translated excerpt from Dr. Leif's recent interview with SPIEGEL ONLINE, entitled "Bloggers are often Narcissistic Egocentrists":

"While serious journalists at least try to implement objective criteria, many blogs are driven by a hyper-subjectivity. The blogger places his person in the foreground. It is often about narcissistic egocentrists who want to satisfy the urge to express themselves. That is legitimate, but not a journalistic attitude.

Many blogs are filled with hostility, accusations and systematic provocation. For example, others are deliberately put down without the blogger ever having personally met them. Through that, however, he directs attention to himself and enjoys the hype that develops around him. For the majority of bloggers it is not seriously about clarifying the subject matter or analyzing an event. Most of them just present a private table dance. Naturally there are also very good blogs of high qualitative value. They are, however, just mini islands in an ocean of content to which journalistic principles do not apply."

Of course. The egocentric blogger narcissists are to blame for journalism's decline. That isn't a ridiculous generalization from the mouth of a mainstream media dinosaur, it's just plain truth. After all, where would we all be without German journalists, those courageous paragons of objectivity, fairness and virtue?

And why can't we all just get along? Why can't all those hostile, hype-addicted bloggers just stop putting others down for a minute? Why can't they repress their selfish urges? Why not follow the German media's shining example? Educate yourselves bloggers:

"Others are deliberately put down, for example, without the blogger ever having met them..."

"Many blogs are filled with hostility, accusations and systematic provocation..."

"For the majority of bloggers it is not seriously about clarifying the subject matter or analyzing an event..."

"While serious journalists at least try to implement objective criteria, many blogs are driven by a hyper-subjectivity..."

But hey, all is not lost. There are a few "mini islands" of hope out there. Even Dr. Leif acknowledges that not all bloggers are vain egocentrists looking to boogie-down with the daily online table-dance. It's just too bad they can't be more like German journalists...

Endnote: Dr. Leif can be contacted per email at: thomas.leif@faberdesign.de. Anyone emailing Dr. Leif with opinions or comments should do so in a respectful and professional manner. Let's not stoop to his level. (Emphasis ours throughout)

This guy prefers blunt talk instead of nuanced diplomatic babble, which has become the cornerstone of Germany's highly successful multilateral foreign policy! Members of the German media, known for their courtesy and politeness against Arab dictators and (while they existed) communist leaders, dismissively label Bolton a "neoconservative hardliner" (Financial Times Germany), "right-wing hardliner" (TAZ), and "hawk" (SWR).

Just a few quotes to show the truly evil, neocon nature of this man:

On the International Criminal Court:America's posture toward the ICC should be "Three Noes": no financial support, directly or indirectly; no cooperation; and no further negotiations with other governments to "improve" the ICC. Such a policy cannot entirely eliminate the risks posed by the ICC, but it can go a long way in that direction.

The United States should raise our objections to the ICC on every appropriate occasion, as part of our larger campaign to assert